Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rating: 5
Page 45 of 136 1 2 43 44 45 46 47 135 136
Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Will Truax] #19652 05/12/09 07:31 PM
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 167
T
toivo Offline
Member
Offline
Member
T
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 167
axes--> the way as tao. invariably. i chop left handed, with the left hand up front. it seems natural to have the timber on the right. though i can understand how it might feel proper to have that guiding hand go in a smooth arc. that gransfor axe curves on its own, describing a forward arc down the face of the timber. this arc then smooths out and falls to plumb.

boy that axe looks small in his hands.

and a pretty timber getting all chaotic and sculptural.

Last edited by toivo; 05/12/09 07:36 PM. Reason: being more responsive
Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: toivo] #19777 05/17/09 12:17 AM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,197
N
northern hewer Offline OP
Member
OP Offline
Member
N
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,197
H everyone tonight:

Great responses, it is only through discussion that one can feel comfortable with answers to questions like we are discussing.

One's body and one's mind are sometimes very hard to understand.
My daughter who is left handed at first wrote her name backwards when she first went to school, and it took sometime for this to reverse and spell her name in the correct format, at least to us.

I am in complete agreement that everyone should hew in what ever style that they seem the most comfortable with, but only after being shown what appears to be correct first for them. As I perceived students working at first with the hewing and scoring axes if I seen what appeared to me to be a safety problem I would interveen and work with them until I felt comfortable with their style because the most acceptable and safe style is the one that you have the most control of the axes with.

Would any of you care to expand on this theory?

NH

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #19781 05/17/09 02:49 AM
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 167
T
toivo Offline
Member
Offline
Member
T
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 167
controlling the axe so as to get to know the wood is definitely the focus. the neat thing about axes is that they are quite aggressive tools, wasting large amounts of wood quickly, but only where the wood wants to. so it is both aggressive and inherently sensitive at once.

just to carry on with that thought, there is a rhythm to working the axe over the log. a kind of tempo. wind up just slowly enough and one stays focused, then to keep the body working at that rate along the length of the log. days measured in trips back and forth. how many tree lengths are in your back today? you stand as tall as the trees you can cut.

shifting gears- from splitting off juggles to bouncing the edge against the timber face. hewing goes by degrees. what i'm working on is patience. the desire to get it done. to get beyond that desire would be progress and a process improvement at this end. i think there is a direct connection between the desire to bring things to an end and the fact of having a body. every desire is mortal.

Last edited by toivo; 05/17/09 02:51 AM. Reason: just a day's reflection
Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: toivo] #19794 05/18/09 12:10 AM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,197
N
northern hewer Offline OP
Member
OP Offline
Member
N
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,197
Hi everyone tonight:

Well great remarks Toivo: butI am slightly confused, do you mean that you hew standing on top of the log and glancing the axe on the vertical surface working along your feet? This I am sure is not for everyone to try, and if they do extreme care is needed and I think that you will agree.

The old manuscript(s) that I have studied show clearly the hewer working alongside the timber and hewing downward across the grain, this does not mean that this is for sure the only way but I was trained to accept what history has recorded to be factual.

The far East methods of squaring timber is another thing of course, with different tools, and different historical training.
As we are trained in our historical ways they also were and proudly so!!

The Historic structures that I reconstructed over 30 years were studied pretty closely for scoring and hewing marks for as close a reproducton as was possible. Of course these buildings did originate and were built by German, Dutch, English, Irish, Swedish, and maybe a few other nationalities thrown in. To create the same telltale marks on the surfaces for future generations to study we had to hew in this methodical way.

In most cases The permanent homes and churches were constructed with the most precision work, while the barns and outbuildings along with other types of outstructures were more crudely done, but none the less at times a temendous amount of finish was applied to the surfaces of these timbers. The large anchor beams of the Dutch Barns exhibit extraordinary smooth finishes no doubt an adze finish in many cases.

I always hewed with the timber about 6" off the ground on good solid sills partly buried in the ground. This created a base that could easily be passed over as the hewing progressed along the timber, and would disappear as the chips accumulated.


Keep the chat rolling in I am sure that there is more to tell

NH

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #19800 05/18/09 06:42 AM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 959
K
Ken Hume Offline
Member
Offline
Member
K
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 959
Hi NH,

So that means that you are right and everyone else is wrong ?

You have described a back breaking practice that I simply could not follow and it also sounds to me like a recipe for burying the axe head in the ground.

Regards

Ken Hume



Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Ken Hume] #19802 05/18/09 12:23 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,685
J
Jim Rogers Online Confused
Member
Online Confused
Member
J
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,685
Originally Posted By: Ken Hume
.......it also sounds to me like a recipe for burying the axe head in the ground.


Recently, I viewed several hewing videos on YouTube. One fellow did mention that his axe did get into the ground sometimes....

I would assume that once a good chip pile was present that this would prevent the axe from entering the ground again.

I saw one fellow scoring to his chalk line along the top of the log while standing on the side. He then rolled the log to have this scored side on the side. Then he hewed off the side.

I've noticed new comers to hewing have difficulty standing on top of the log to score the side, and wondered if this method would be an advantage to a newcomer? Although it may not be historically correct, it could be easier to some.

Jim Rogers


Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Ken Hume] #19805 05/18/09 02:08 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 687
G
Gabel Offline
Member
Offline
Member
G
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 687
Originally Posted By: Ken Hume

You have described a back breaking practice that I simply could not follow...



I assure you there is no easy way to hew.

I've found that few people have the combination of determination, strength, precision and stamina to keep at it long enough for it to hurt less and for them to become proficient at it.


Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: Gabel] #19807 05/18/09 02:59 PM
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 570
OurBarns1 Offline
Member
Offline
Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 570
I have a new appreciation of hewing after doing a bit @ the TTRAG event. To look at a big barn that's all hewn will be evermore humbling now.

How many hundreds of feet were hewn to make a plain old barn???

Maybe the farmer had strong motivations that kept his axe a swinging. It was his livelihood, his survival.

Then again, slaves might have done a majority of the hewing in some areas. Accounts read that pit-sawing of boards was done by slaves.

Maybe hewing should be regular training at boot camp! TF barracks?


Don Perkins
Member, TFG


to know the trees...


Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: OurBarns1] #19826 05/19/09 01:31 AM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,197
N
northern hewer Offline OP
Member
OP Offline
Member
N
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,197
Hi everyone tonight:

Thanks for all the viewpoints as far as the correct hewing position is concerned, and you all have and put forward good viewpoints.

I am sorry Ken that you seem to take my remarks in that context, I thought that I had made myself clear that depending where you live hewing probably was done in many different ways.

The old manuscripts that I had access to were Britsh in origin
and correct me if I am not right were you not taught to respect what is presented as a true representation of facts by unknown artists, and in many cases before photography paintings and artist sketches were the only way that scenes of work could be recorded.

For everyone looking in on this subject under discussion, what would be your preference, and how would you present proper subject material to those that want to learn a true safe method to work by?

I would much rather bury my axe head in the dirt than have it glance and be a danger to ones leg or foot.

I have always said that after the teaching is done then one can stray away from proven methods if one wishes but that person has to accept what may happen when using irregular methods, and I am sure that in many cases not only with hewing disasterous results were imminent and did happen.

Thanks all for the discussion which I am sure is not finished yet--

NH

Re: historic hewing questionnaire [Re: northern hewer] #19833 05/19/09 10:12 AM
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,882
T
TIMBEAL Offline
Member
Offline
Member
T
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,882
It sound like the "don't whittle toward your self you could cut yourself". This is a false statement cutting toward your own body is the safest and most controlled, this is a bit of a stretch in comparing to the axe but the basic principal applies. The same goes for the adze. In using a certain motion your body creates a break stopping the further motion of the tool.

As for the old pictures, I have always seen them as misrepresentations of the truth, this done on purpose to keep the secrets secret, allowing some truth to leak out but not all of it.

Tim

Page 45 of 136 1 2 43 44 45 46 47 135 136

Moderated by  Jim Rogers, mdfinc 

Newest Members
HFT, Wrongthinker, kaymaxi, RLTJohn, fendrishi
5134 Registered Users
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.3
(Release build 20190728)
PHP: 5.4.45 Page Time: 0.074s Queries: 16 (0.055s) Memory: 3.2359 MB (Peak: 3.5814 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-28 20:24:11 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS